RAND Evaluates Phila. Restructuring

Privately managed schools, introduced four years ago to the 196,000-student Philadelphia public school district, have not shown any statistically significant effects on students’ reading- or math-proficiency scores, according to a report by the Santa Monica, Calif.-based RAND Corp.

The use of privately managed schools was part of a state-imposed restructuring of the district in 2002. Other changes included giving extra funding for students and providing intensive staff support. Generally, the changes made to the Philadelphia district as part of the restructuring effort have not resulted in achievement gains that were higher than those of other school districts in the state, RAND says.